9 Nights of Halloween, (a spooky story)

I forgot Kendle wanted me to post this on my blog this week. She wrote this little story in school and it's pretty fun to read.

9 Nights of Halloween

By: Kendle Dodson, age 8

On the first night of Halloween my vampire gave to me,

a coffin in a haunted house.

On the second night of Halloween my vampire gave to me,

two dancing monsters.

On the third night of Halloween my vampire gave to me,

three dark brown werewolves.

On the fourth night of Halloween my vampire gave to me,

four slimy green toads.

On the fifth night of Halloween my vampire gave to me,

five stinging scorpions.

On the sixth night of Halloween my vampire gave to me,

six gleaming candles.

On the seventh night of Halloween my vampire gave to me,

seven orange jack-o-lanterns.

On the eighth night of Halloween my vampire gave to me,

eight spooky ghosts.

On the ninth night of Halloween my vampire gave to me,

nine babbling bats.

Happy Halloween!

Halloween Then and Now

As I was trying to go to sleep last night, I started thinking about all of our Halloween activities over the years and how easy it use to be with one or two children and how far we've fallen in the fun department.

Then:  We'd carve elaborate pumpkins with the cool patterns and tools that come in those kits.

Now: Free hand "scary" faces onto the pumpkins and make it up as we go.

Then: Cute and creative costumes planned and shopped for well ahead of time.

Now:  Throwing together whatever the kids decide they want to be totally last minute and convincing them "it looks great".

Then: Elaborately decorate the outside entrance and walkway of the house.

Now: Wreath, pumpkins, call it good.

Then: Halloween night was a party. We'd have lots of finger foods and treats and it was a super cozy fun night. I'd hand out candy while Riley took Kendle around to a few houses.

Now: Riley takes the kids all over trick or treating because he wants a share of all the sweets. Halloween is usually a crazy chaotic night. Kids are tired and cranky.

Then: We'd watch all the Halloween specials and movies as a fun family night.

Now: Oh, were they on? Did we forget to DVR them?

Then:  Fun and cute crafts with the kids and cute treats to take around to friends.

Now: Here, go color this coloring sheet I printed off the internet.


I'm hoping by next year my Halloween mojo will be back in full swing. Halloween used to be one of my favorite holidays and I usually love all of the fun and festivities that go along with it. The kids are excited for our ward Trunk or Treat tomorrow. I hope I can do Kendle's scary vampire makeup justice. :)


P.S. Anyone else out there love the show Community on NBC? If you missed it it's totally worth watching here. Their zombie episode last night was awesome. Speaking of zombie's here's a little Halloween flash back picture from a few years ago:

Have  a Ghoulishly Great Halloween!

Team Dinner

As if this week wasn't a crazy one already, my friend Julie and I decided we'd do a team dinner for the Southridge girls soccer team. Being the coach's wives we thought they deserved something fun after their big win on Tuesday night that ended their regular season league games.

{Let me paint a picture for you of Julie and I at the game in the freezing cold and horrible wind. Both of us had big coats, sweaters, and sweatshirts on. Scarves, gloves, hoods and then we each wrapped ourselves up in a big blanket so only our faces were left uncovered. The guys told us we could sit up in the announcer's box out of the cold, but we decided to sit behind them in the bleachers so they could hear us cheer. Which they couldn't because of the wind. But that's ok. It's the thought that counts. We got up to go get hot chocolate at the half and could barely move. Thank goodness for the hot chocolate though, I think that prevented us from freezing completely solid.}

Julie offered to have it at her house and we are going to attempt to feed 20+  soccer girls (and coaches) that according to Riley, really like to eat and can eat A LOT. We've got pork roasts going in the crock pot for BBQ pulled pork sandwiches, and my counter is filled with peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, snicker doodles, and pumpkin bars. I did most of the baking last night after the kids were in bed and it is amazing how much I can get done when all the little helpers are asleep.

We're really looking forward to celebrating the girls and  having a fun night. They have worked so hard and deserve good things to happen to them. We are excited for the team and what lies ahead of them in the next few weeks.

Progress?

I guess if my aching shin/ankle combination and my bruised toenail that is about to turn a nice purplish black is any indication, I am doing a good job of keeping up with my running/workout routine. When I was playing volleyball in high school, my feet would always get really sore and have problems the first few weeks of practice because of all the short sprints and jumping and so on. It was quite painful. I had several toe nails that would fall off and I'd get blood blisters underneath others. One year I had a horrible blister on the side of my right pinky toe that got so bad I started to get a red line running up my foot which was an indication I was on the verge of getting some nice infectious blood poisoning. I had to have my mom cut that sucker open and get all the toxic goo out. (Doesn't that get your appetite going?) That could be one of the most painful memories I have. Youch!

The strange thing is that pretty much all of my foot problems occur on my right foot. My right ankle is the only one I've ever sprained as well. Why all the right sided problems? I've tried different shoes, different sizes, better socks, yada - yada - yada. Nothing really seems to help. I guess having sensitive feet is just one of my hurdles to jump in this life. This is just something I have to get over whenever I start doing something new.

I've had 8 years of going up and down in the weight department. I've gained as much as 70 pounds with one pregnancy; Kendle my big old 10 pound baby.  After Kendle was born it took me a good 2 years of blood sweat and tears to lose that 70 pounds. I've figured with all of my kids combined I've had to lose close to 185 pounds over the years. That is a whole person. It gets harder and harder when you can't lose all the weight you need to in between each baby and the next thing you know that "baby weight" just wants to stick like glue and never leave. But I have gotten to the point where I am just sick of not feeling as healthy as I've wanted to and haven't had the energy level I need. I knew I needed to step it up and that I can reach the goals I've set for myself. I'm trying not to be so worried about what the scale says and more concerned with getting back in good shape and feeling really strong again. I want to be a positive role model for my family.

So even though the thought of putting shoes on with my sore toe and running right now gives me the shivers, that's exactly what I'm going to go do. And that is how I know I'm making progress. The term "no pain, no gain" is definitely going to be applicable the next little while.